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China's fascination with Bo Xilai trial

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JUST WATCHED

Bo: Key prosecution witness a 'mad dog'

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Bo: Key prosecution witness a 'mad dog'03:21

High conviction rate

His trial brought to light a wealth of eye-opening details about the apparently lavish and emotionally fraught life of his family and inner circle, giving Chinese people insights into how some of the ruling elite live.

Bo's glittering career, during which he drew both admirers and detractors for his populist policies, fell apart last year amid a scandal involving murder, betrayal and financial skullduggery.

Based on the track record of Chinese courts, Bo appears likely to be convicted.

The conviction rate at criminal trials and their appeals in China -- where the ruling Communist Party controls police, prosecution and courts -- stood at 99.9% in 2010, a U.S. State Department report cited the Supreme People's Court as saying.

If he is found guilty, he will also probably find out his punishment. Chinese courts usually announce sentencing straight after guilty verdicts. Prosecutors have asked for a heavy sentence for the former senior official.

Dramatic downfall

The son of a revolutionary veteran, Bo rose to power as a city mayor, provincial governor, minister of commerce and member of the Politburo, the powerful policymaking body of the Communist Party. He had been tipped to ascend farther up the party hierarchy.

A charismatic and urbane politician, Bo was credited with a spectacular, albeit brutal, crackdown on organized crime during his time as the top party official of Chongqing, a metropolis in southwestern China.

But when his deputy, Wang Lijun, walked into the U.S. Consulate in the city of Chengdu in February of last year and told American diplomats that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was an accomplice in a murder case, Bo's career began to unravel.

Wang's move precipitated Bo's political demise. Soon after news of the events began to emerge, Bo was removed from his party posts.

A court found Gu guilty last year of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood in a Chongqing hotel room in 2011. A family employee, Zhang Xiaojun, was also convicted in the killing and sentenced to nine years in prison.

The following month, Wang was convicted of bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking. He received a 15-year prison sentence.